Walkhighlands

Every since A Failed Attempt at Goat Fell, But Oh What a Day I've been itching to get back out in the hills! I wanted to go hill walking today, and since I was going alone, I wanted something which wouldn't be too difficult or result in me getting lost! (I'm trying to learn to navigate properly). I chose Beinn an Lochain because of the close proximity (I'm from Ayrshire) and from the reports I had read, it looked like a really interesting, scenic walk.

I set of later than planned and fought my way through the traffic on my M77 towards Glasgow. The forecast was sun with minimal clouds and from what I could see so far, it was looking great! As I drove over the Erskine Bridge - looking east over the River Clyde - I saw what I can only describe as the perfect sunrise. The sun huge, bright orange in colour and was reflecting onto the river, covering the sky in crisp orange light. A silhouette of a plane was just entering the scene on the left hand side, heading for Glasgow Airport, it was perfect. I wanted to stop the car on the middle of the bridge and take some photographs, but in fear of causing a massive crash (ha), I had to settle for a mental picture.

This got me excited for my walk, hoping for some nice pictures from the summit of Beinn an Lochain. I arrived at the parking lay-by of the mountain and was greeted with this:



So much for my crisp, clear and sunny day! Oh well.

The route - I had my OS map (to try practice working out my location) and the directions from Walk Highlands website. It's fairly straight forward; perform an Olympic long jump over the burn - as the stepping stones were covered in water - then I followed a small bogg/path until I reached the top of the forest, then joined the main rubble path that travels along the northeast ridge. There was some minor scrambling on the way up but nothing difficult. It was however an incredibly steep assent! I gained height very quickly and seemed to keep going and going forever! It was a great leg workout - half way up and my quads were screaming at me!

Unfortunately the whole route was covered in thick clag which limited my visibility and meant I could see none of the beautiful scenery, except from a small window appearing through the thick clag





Some of the minor scrambling involved



Think the summit might be up there... somewhere





Steep...



A brief opening of the clouds down to Loch Restil



Another false summit



and eventually



I sat on the top shaded by a small crag and had some lunch. It didn't take long before my fingers became unbearably cold, so I packed up and headed back down.

Having a steep ascent unfortunately means having a very steed decent. It became quite tricky at times, especially at the scrambling sections. There were sections whereby, if you put a foot down wrong, or became unbalanced, you were most certainly going to fall some distance (sometimes sheer drops) and badly injure yourself. That being said it wasn't anything too difficult!

The clag began to lift as I got half way down, opening up some beautiful views:









I really enjoyed walking Beinn an Lochain, just a little gutted about the weather. But hey, there's always next time!



Please ignore me talking to myself!

ach weel that is scotland for you! and that wee part of Argyll seems to have its own particular wet microclimate. However it did give you some superb shots of bits of daylight or view through wee gaps in the cloud. and it does help one appreciate it all the more when the sun shines. Well done

My first few outings down that way were always in the cloud and it wasn't until my 5th visit to the Arrochar Alps that I got a view! Great wee hill though.

mrssanta wrote:ach weel that is scotland for you! and that wee part of Argyll seems to have its own particular wet microclimate. However it did give you some superb shots of bits of daylight or view through wee gaps in the cloud. and it does help one appreciate it all the more when the sun shines. Well done

Haha, looks like it! Thanks for commenting.

Fudgie wrote:My first few outings down that way were always in the cloud and it wasn't until my 5th visit to the Arrochar Alps that I got a view! Great wee hill though.

Typical, eh!

Well the first time I was there I did Beinn Narnain and it was very similar weather as today. I went back and did Ime, Narnain and the Cobbler a few weeks later in glorious sunshine, I could see all the way to Nevis! Really want to get all the Arrochar munros done, I've got Vane, Vorlich, Bhuidhe and Lomond to go... just a few

Nice one Steven, this hill is were i found my love of the hills, a great hill, but had the summit in the clag both times up there. Will need to revist, great pics btw

I agree with Tommy. One of my favourite hills. The day I had on it was outstanding, the views on a clear day are superb

It's Sod's Law Steven - I headed south from Ayrshire on Wednesday and still got caught in the clag

It's just another excuse to go back

OD

Shame about the clag, but thems the breaks

Great wee hill

A fine outing none the less ! Different weather conditions give hills a variety of characters, that's why they should be visited more than once - gives you another view of things
Cheers.

One of my favourite hills this one Shame about the weather, but still a good walk nontheless.

Shame about the clag Steven, but some lovely crisp photographs all the same. What make and type of camera do you use? Ah well, the next time the blue skies might be shining for you, lok forward to your next report.